Safety hat



F b- 19, 195 G. c. JOHNSON ET AL SAFETY HAT 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Filed Aug.1, 1949 Zhwentor Gerald (Z zwon AlcrifAPe re Zman (I ttorneg F 19,1952G. c. JOHNSON ET AL 2,535,937

SAFETY HAT Filed Aug. 1, 1949 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 7 I Zmventor j- 8 GeraldG. Jb/m on sufllberMPereZman (Ittorneg S Patented Feb. 19, 1952 SAFETYHAT Gerald G. Johnson, Bronxville, and Albert A. Perelman, Brooklyn, N.Y., assignors to Willson Products, Inc., Reading, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application August 1, 1949, Serial No. 107,868

3 Claims.

This invention relates to protective headgear and, more particularly tohats of the safety type, such as worn by miners and others engaged inhazardous occupations, and linings therefor, to protect the head frominjury from falling objects and the like hitting any part of the hatsurface.

In order to minimize the possibility of injury to the head of a workmanfrom impact with objects, it is desirable that the cradle assembly beso'constructed as to absorb part of the force of impact and distributethe remainder by applying it over a large surface area of the head.Shock cushioning cradle assemblies have been used in the past, but theirrelatively complicated construction and the difiiculty involved inattaching or detaching the crown assembly from the hat for replacementor substitution of a larger or smaller size are serious disadvantages.Another disadvantage is that in view of the thickness of the shockcushioning elements of the crown assembly, the hat must be madeoversize, therefore providing an unattractive appearance as any oversizehat would.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel safety hatwhich is devoid of the above named disadvantages. V

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a safety hat orhelmet which is sufficiently rigid as to protect the wearers head, butof sufficiently lightweight as to be worn without discomfort.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel shockcushioning cradle assembly which is very easily attached or detachedfrom the brim portion of the hat and'which is extremely effective incushioning the wearers head against shocks or blows resulting fromfalling of objects or collision with stationary objects irrespective ofthe direction of the blow.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a safety hat ofplastic material which is ribbed or reinforced in a manner so as toprovide maximum rigidity and strength for a given weight as well as toprovide a suitable well for containing a shock cushioning ring of thecradle assembly, thereby avoiding the necessity of making the hatoversize thus giving an attractive appearance thereto.

A still further object of this invention is to provide in a safety hat asweat band which is easily adjustable to vary the shape and size thereofand loosely suspended from the crown assembly but always retained inplace.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view with a portion cut away of a safetyhat embodying the prin-' ciples of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional veiw taken along line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the crownillustrated in Fig. 1, except that it is taken along a different radiusof the hat;

Figs. 4a and 4b are enlarged cross-sectional views taken along line4ab4ab of Fig. 1, except that it shows the wedge type connection betweenthe cradle assembly and crown of the hat in an exploded instead ofinterfitted condition;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the hat of Fig. 1 with the crown portionshown cut away in order to more clearly illustrate the cradle assembly;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevational view, partly incross-section, showing a portion of the shock-absorbing protection ringand strap;

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary plan view of amodified form of shock-absorbingprotection ring, and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevational view, partly in cross-section, ofthe top portion of the hat.

Referring more particularly to Fig. l of the drawing, numeral Igenerally denotes a safety hat or helmet made of anyv suitable materialsuch as a treated synthetic resin or a phenolic condensation productwith or without reinforcing layers of fabric. Howevenwe prefer to makethe hat of plastic material such as, for example, nylon because of itsextreme lightness and great strength as well as other desirablecharacteristics. To provide rigidity and reinforcement of the crownportion of the hat, rib portions, such as 2, extending somewhat radiallyof the crown portion, are prcvided and terminate at the hat band portion3. It will be particularly noted that the hat band portion 3 is offsetradially outwardly so as to provide a circumferential groove or well forreceiving a shock-absorbing protection ring presently described. Also,in order to give the hat a more attractive appearance, the hat bandportion 3 is ribbed or grooved in a vertical direction on its outersurface as indicated.

The top portion of the hat is preferably reinforced by cireumferentiallyextending, stepped rib portions as shown more clearly in Fig. 8, therebyproviding relatively high resistance against impact from falling objectsand the like.

The cradle assembly comprises a plurality of flexible straps, 4, 5, and6 of Vinylite, or the like. The ends of the straps are integrallysecured to a shock cushioning or protection'ring 1 made of rubber orother resilient material. A reinforcing flange is preferably provided atthe top of ring 1 as best shown in Fig. 3 to better maintain itsconcentricity. Through loop portions of straps 4, 5, and 6 there is tieda cord, such as a shoestring l3 whose loop may be shortened orlengthened as desired to conform the crown assembly to the shape of thewearers head. The protective ring I has a plurality of radiallyextending fins Ia equally spaced and extending outwardly into contactwith the interior surface of the crown of the hat and seated in thecylindrical well or groove formed adjacent to the bottom of the hat inorder to cushion the wearers head against shock from impact by fallingobjects. The spaces between fins'la provide for ventilation of the head.Ring 1 partly absorbs and distributes over a wide surface area ofcontact any transmitted shocks, thereby minimizing injury to the head.Since the ring I is firmly seated or built into the hat it will notbecome displaced when the hat is struck and it will provide additionalprotection and distribution of the impact of blows against the head fromall angles. At spaced points along the protective ring 1 integral keysor wedges 8 are provided whose sides are tapered upwardlyand adapted tobe fitted into a correspondingly tapered groove l5 formed in the base ofthe crown portion of the hat as shown more clearly in Figs. 401-42).Thus it will be seen that by introducing the wedges or keys 8 into thebottom of grooves l5 and lifting them relative thereto, a wedging actionwill take place so that by the action of gravity or by pressing the hatdownwardly onto the wearers head, a readily detachably and tight wedgefit is provided between the cradle assembly and hat. Integrally formedon the protective ring 1 adjacent each of the keys 8 there is provided aloop 9 for providing a slot through which the straps 4, 5 and 6 may bepassed. More specifically, as shown in Fig. 6, the straps, such as 4,have their ends integrally formed on the protective ring 1 and have asecondary purpose of supporting the sweat band supporting straps 10shown in Fig. 5 made of leather or any other suitable material. The endportions of bands 4, 5 and 6 are first looped around the sweat bandsupporting strap and then extended-through loop 9 as shown more clearlyin Fig. l. A plurality of sweat band supporting straps ID are provided,each having one end, such as Hla, sewn to the sweat band I l and theother end lOb detachably secured thereto such as by a snap fastener.Inasmuch as the ends of straps d, and 6 are preferably, although notnecessarily, integrally molded to the protective ring 1, it is necessaryto cutand heat weld the straps such as along line l2 of the assembly. Ifdesired, straps 4, 5 and 6 may be attached to instead of integrallyformed with ring 1.

Thus it will be seen that whenever it is desired to replace a sweatband, it is necessary merely to detach the snap fasteners Hlb and removethe sweat band from the cradle assembly replacing it with a new one,perhaps of different size to adapt it for a different wearers head. Ofcourse, the sweat band ll itself may be made adjustable in s ze in anyWell kno n mannerdesired to remove the entire cradle assembly, it isnecessary merely to pull the edges or keys 8 downwardly with respect tothe crown portion of the hat so as to withdraw them from wedgingrelationship in grooves I5.

Fig. '7 shows a modified form of shock-cushioning or protective ring l4comprising a plurality of arcuate loops 14a uniformly spaced andintegrally formed therewith throughout the circumference thereof. Thus,instead of providing radially extending fins, such as la, there areprovided yieldable or flexible loops which are adapted to distributeshocks over a substantially wide area of surface contact. This ring I4,as well as ring 1, may be made of plastic material, such as Vinylite, orof rubber, such as sponge rubber, or other suitable material. It will benoted that spaces are provided in rings 1 and 14 to permit ventilation.

Thus it will be seen that we have provided a relatively light but rigidand strongly reinforced safety hat having a portion simulating a hatband and providing a well for receiving a shock cushioning protectivering; also, we have provided a novel cradle assembly having a readilydetachable shock-cushioning protective ring enabling easy detachment andreplacement of the sweat band or of the entire cradle assembly.Furthermore, we have provided a safety hat having a novel cradle orsuspension means providing adjustability or replacement of the hat bandand permitting circumferential displacement of the sweat band so as toconform to the shape of the wearers head and provide maximum comfort.Additionally, we have provided a novel shock-cushioning protective ringfor effectively distributing shocks caused by impact from fallingobjects to minimize injury to the wearers head, which ring is providedwith wedge-like portions which are readily detachably secured to thecrown portion of the hat, the ring being so shaped as to provideventilation to provide comfort in wearing the hat in hot climates.

While We have illustrated and described certain specific embodiments ofour invention, it will be understood that these are by way ofillustration only, and that various changes and modifications may bemade within the contemplation of our invention and within the scope ofthe following claims.

We claim: I

1. In combination with a safety helmet, a, cradle assembly comprisingshock-cushioning means, said shock-cushioning means including aprotective ring of resilient material having circumferentially spaced,radially extending elements, and wedge-like portions adjacent saidelements and extending radially outwardly of said ring, correspondinglyshaped wedge-like grooves formed in the crown portion of the helmet toprovide a readily detachable wedge connection between the cradleassembly and helmet crown portion, a sweat band having a plurality ofband supporting straps disposed along the outer surface thereof, atleast one end of said straps being detachably secured to the sweat bandand the central portions of which are adapted to be supported by strapsextending radially and from the bottom of said protective ring.

2. Apparatus recited in claim 1 wherein said protective ring comprises aplurality of substantially semi-circular loops for cushioning thewearers head against shock and for providing air spaces for ventilation.

In combination with a safety helmet of hard material, a cradle assemblyincluding a protective ring of rubber-like material havingua/pluralityof integral circumferentially spaced, radially outwardly extending finswhose outer extremities are adapted to contact the inner surface of thehelmet 5 and which fins are adapted to flex when external shock pressureis applied to the helmet, and for distributing the shock load, aplurality of radially outwardly extending wedge-like elements integrallyformed on said protective ring, said helmet having corresponding wedgeshaped grooves integrally formed on the inner surface thereof into whichsaid wedge-like elements are adapted to fit to provide a quicklydetachable connection between the protective ring and the helmet.

GERALD C. JOHNSON. ALBERT A. PERELMAN.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 3,855 BeattyMar. 1, 1870 389,962 Gosling Sept. 25, 1888 708,872 Delion Sept. 9, 190210 1,342,924 Powers June 8, 1920 1,575,251 Cairns Mar. 2, 1926 2,025,772Punton Dec. 31, 1935 2,074,568 Sloan Mar. 23, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 295,675 Italy Apr. 27, 1932 328,804 Great BritainMay 8, 1930

